A Jetstar cabin crew member has reportedly suffered a broken wrist after being thrown to the floor when pilots were forced to brake sharply to avoid a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 during a near-miss at Sydney Airport.
A Jetstar cabin crew member has been injured after an Airbus A320 came dangerously close to a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 while taxiing for departure at Sydney Airport on Sunday morning.
Jetstar flight JQ402 was preparing to depart Sydney for the Gold Coast at around 0700hrs on August 9 when its pilots were forced to bring the aircraft to an abrupt stop after spotting the Qatar Airways jet crossing ahead of them. The Boeing 777 was not operating under its own power at the time but was being moved across the airport by an aircraft tug.
According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Jetstar A320 was taxiing for its planned departure when its flight crew observed the Boeing 777 “in close proximity on a crossing taxiway”. Both aircraft were subsequently stopped abruptly.
No collision occurred, but the sudden braking reportedly sent one of the Jetstar cabin crew members at the rear of the aircraft crashing to the floor.
Australian media reports state that the crew member suffered a broken wrist and required medical assistance from paramedics. None of the 151 passengers travelling on JQ402 were injured.
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Aircraft Reportedly Stopped Just 50m Apart
The Australian reports that the Jetstar A320 and Qatar Airways Boeing 777 eventually came to rest around 50 metres apart, reportedly facing one another.
The same report states that shear pins associated with the Boeing 777’s towbar failed during the incident. The ATSB has so far officially confirmed only that there was damage to the connection between the Boeing’s nose landing gear and the aircraft tug.
Jetstar said its aircraft had been complying with instructions issued by air traffic control immediately before the incident.
“Our aircraft was following instructions by Air Traffic Control when the pilots were forced to brake firmly after another aircraft came in close proximity,” an airline spokesperson said. “We have commenced an investigation into the incident.”
The Gold Coast service was subsequently cancelled and affected passengers were rebooked onto later flights.
According to Flightradar24, the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 had arrived at the airport’s international Terminal 1 earlier in the morning. It was apparently being repositioned to a remote parking stand near the domestic Terminal 2 area when the incident occurred. The aircraft was reportedly being operated on behalf of Virgin Australia, whose services between Australia and Doha are flown using Qatar Airways aircraft and crews.
ATSB Launches Investigation
Australia’s aviation safety investigator has now opened an investigation to establish exactly how two large commercial aircraft were allowed to come into such close proximity.
The ATSB said investigators would collect available information from both aircraft and air traffic control systems.
Flight crew, air traffic controllers, tug operators, witnesses and other people involved in the incident will also be interviewed. At the same time, investigators plan to examine recorded information including CCTV footage from Sydney Airport.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell warned against drawing conclusions about responsibility while the investigation remained at such an early stage.
“At this stage we don’t know what were all the instructions,” Mitchell said, adding that investigators would use recordings and interviews to establish what went wrong and why the aircraft came so close.
Reports have suggested that investigators will examine whether the tug operator towing the Qatar Airways aircraft correctly followed instructions, although no cause has yet been formally established.
Later on Sunday, Australia’s Transport Minister Catherine King confirmed that both the air traffic ground controller and tug operator involved had been stood down.
However, the move does not indicate that either person has been blamed for the incident. King said the action was standard procedure to allow mandatory drug and alcohol testing following a safety occurrence.
Sydney Already Struggling With ATC Shortages
The near-miss comes amid growing concern over air traffic control staffing levels at Australia’s busiest airport.
Sydney Airport had suffered widespread disruption during the preceding days after Airservices Australia struggled to roster sufficient controllers.
More than 150 flights were reportedly affected by roster constraints on Saturday alone, while restrictions were again operating between approximately 0600 and 0800hrs on Sunday morning when the Jetstar incident occurred.
Following the near-miss, Airservices Australia introduced additional departure spacing measures to manage aircraft movements safely and said it was working with airlines to minimise delays.
“Airservices is reviewing the incident and will assist with any safety investigation,” the organisation said.
However, there is currently no established evidence linking the air traffic controller shortages with Sunday’s near-collision, and the ATSB investigation will determine what role, if any, air traffic control procedures or staffing played.
Second Sydney Near-Miss in Weeks
Sunday’s incident is particularly concerning as it comes just weeks after another potentially serious ground conflict at Sydney Airport.
On July 27, air traffic control cleared a Qantas Boeing 737 operating from Queenstown to cross runway 34L while a QantasLink Dash 8 arriving from Canberra was still completing its landing roll on the same runway.
Controllers subsequently detected the developing conflict and warned both crews, with the Boeing 737 stopping after passing the holding point. The ATSB is also investigating that incident.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has described the latest occurrence as concerning, both from a safety perspective and because of the continuing disruption affecting Sydney Airport.
Sending get-well wishes to the injured Jetstar crew member.
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